Gouden Carolus Pure Taste Oloroso Cask

The third and final distillery exclusive in the Gouden Carolus' Pure Taste range, sold only in the visitor center of the Molenberg distillery, is again one of 36 months old. There are 3 different releases in bottles of 200ml, all three matured matured on a different type of cask: bourbon, the Anker cask and Oloroso. We will try the oloroso matured version, bottled at 50% just like its twins. The color is the same as the one from the Anker cask. The nose is sweet and creamy, but cannot hide (should not either) its young age. I can smell the barley and the yeast, but almost nothing from the sherry cask. There is a bit of fruit there – of the yellow and orange variety – but that is overpowered by something like goat cheese and stable scent. Not the most charming nose, to be honest. The body is almost creamy, which is just fine. Spicy too. Again, fine. But the taste is a bit of a let-down. It makes me pull faces. It wants to be sweet on something of sultanas and apricots, but quickly turns somewhat sour and mostly bitter. Ouch. That bitterness becomes quite big in the fairly long finish. But it does not make me happy. In all honesty, I had higher hopes for this oloroso matured Belgian malt. Pity. It is unpolished and unbalanced, bittersweet and… not worth the effort.